October 21, 2013
“I will sing forever about the evidence of your mercy, O Yahweh. I will tell about your faithfulness to every generation.” Psalm 89:1
Heaven in Her Heart
She did not know what awaited her there…
As she scaled the mountain and reached its peak…
There had to be something else…something more…
She searched for God…for Him to speak.
She found Him in the early morn,
In the rising of the sun,
She found Him in the still dark night,
When He whispered, “Child, please come…”
She glimpsed His face, His loving eyes;
Her journey began as He spoke her name…
Eternity made her heart its home,
One glimpse…and life was never the same…
“Consider this: The Father has given us His love. He loves us so much that we are actually called God’s dear children. And that is what we are…” 1 John 3:1
We have no idea of the impact that our lives and our actions have on other people. We all have been the beneficiaries of lives who have come before us, in ways that they are unaware. I’m certain that if I thought of this more frequently, I would utilize my time in more productive arenas. Recently, I have become aware of a series of events…which have connected in an amazing way…
Heaven in Her Heart
“…you have received the spirit of God’s adopted children by which we call out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:15
Before our children were born, we enjoyed the months of planning the nurseries for each one of them. I must admit that it was less complicated as we decorated with home-made décor and re-cycled furniture. Yellow paint did an amazing job of reenergizing a grandmother’s kitchen hutch…We could not be sure of the sex of the child until birth, so our nurseries were quite generic! Pastels, heavy on the yellow and greens worked well! Hand-made curtains and soft sculpture balloons adorned the little bed-rooms…and I vividly remember my grand-mother reprimanding me because I was very pregnant and was raising my arms above my head to hang the yellow curtains…and she was appalled. I asked her why, and she didn’t know why, but she just said that a pregnant woman should not raise her arms. I wondered how in the world the curtains would get hung if I could not raise my arms!
The nurseries were ready for each of our children…and the final addition was a special picture. On our son’s shelf, we placed a picture of Jesus that had been in his father’s room when he was a child. Two years later, on Christie’s shelf, we placed a picture of Jesus that I had acquired as a teen-ager…
We have no idea of the impact that our lives and our actions have on other people. We all have been the beneficiaries of lives who have come before us, in ways that they are unaware.
Seventy-two years ago, a young Presbyterian minister by the name of Jim Rayburn, began a ministry in Texas which connected with teenagers who had no interest and affiliation with a church, in order to bring them the message that faith in God could be fun as well as exhilarating. The ministers and leaders went wherever the kids were; they took the message to them. Today, Young Life reaches into over seven hundred ministries in more than seventy countries.
I was the beneficiary of a man’s vision…twenty-nine years after he embarked on his journey…
We have no idea of the impact that our lives and our actions have on other people. We all have been the beneficiaries of lives who have come before us, in ways that they are unaware.
In the summer of 1970, I joined other students from our high-school and traveled to Young Life’s Star Ranch. My parents had reluctantly allowed me to attend the Young Life Club Meetings during the school year; being concerned that it was a cult or something worse…I truly believe that it was God’s grace that they relented and allowed me to attend. I clearly remember the first Bible study being from the book of Ephesians…and I learned that because of God’s love, that He had already decided to adopt us, (me) through Yeshua Christ…that He freely chose to do this…so that we (I) would be willing to give Him the praise and the glory! (Ephesians 1:5, 6) And I learned that God wants us (me) to understand Him…to know Him…to be saved by Him…He wants to take away the desperation and replace it with His Hope!
I know that God moved mountains for me to have the opportunity to travel to Star Ranch in Colorado for the summer camp.
She did not know what awaited her there…
As she scaled the mountain and reached its peak…
There had to be something else…something more…
She searched for God…for Him to speak.
I can remember being desperate for something or someone to fill a gaping place in my heart…Yes, teen-age years are difficult…I was that young person who enjoyed attending church but had absolutely no idea about the love and the grace of God. For some reason, the only message I heard in my heart was a message of retribution…of judgment…and I knew that I could not measure up to the standard…But, I hungered for more…I was desperate for more…I find myself seeking…searching…
Why? Because God puts Heaven in our hearts. As He breathes the breath of life into each one of us, He gently carves a hidden place in our hearts that only He can fill…And, we search…
And how beautiful and exhilarating was the camping experience at Star Ranch. The mountain peaks…the worship… the crazy fun…the camp fires…the Bible studies…Horse-back riding was invigorating…And the week came to an end…But not without a glimpse of the Christ Yeshua’s face…
She found Him in the early morn,
In the rising of the sun,
She found Him in the still dark night,
When He whispered, “Child, please come…”
Before leaving camp, I purchased a picture of Jesus, rendered by Richard Hook, a famous and inspired artist known for his sketches of Christ. He and his wife Francis Hook made many contributions to the world, but one of the greatest was illustrating The Living Bible for Tyndale Publishers. However, Richard lost his battle with cancer and passed away in 1975, just five years after I purchased a copy of one of his sketches of Christ.
She glimpsed His face, His loving eyes;
Her journey began as He spoke her name…
Eternity made its home her heart,
One glimpse…and life was never the same…
We have no idea of the impact that our lives and our actions have on other people. We all have been the beneficiaries of lives who have come before us, in ways that they are unaware. Both of these men’s lives had an eternal…life-changing impact on my life…and on thousands of others…And they had no idea when they lived their calling…and employed their inspiration…they could not know what God would do with their obedience to His call and how He would multiply it…
Today, I know that God has put eternity into our hearts because God’s Word clearly speaks that Truth in Ecclesiastes 3:11. He carves the place and only He can fill it…
Recently, I was baby-sitting our fifteen month old grand-daughter and it was bed-time. I was trying to follow her bed-time routine and carried her into the nursery. As I carried her into the room, she reached her arms out to the shelf by her bed and pointed at a picture. She called out “Dada” repeatedly. She was reaching to the picture of Jesus, purchased at Y.L. Camp, the picture that had sat on my shelf when I was a teen…then on her mother’s shelf, all her life…and now, rests on her own shelf in the same white frame…I stared at the picture and was reminded of the gentle eyes of love of our Savior, and the moments on the mountain top where I first glimpsed Him and where my journey began…and my heart stirred. Then, I looked into the very blue eyes of the little girl and thought, “ Our grand-daughter has Heaven in her heart because our Loving God placed it there…He calls her by name…I believe that she is hearing His call as only a child can…And she calls Him Dada.”
Romans 8:15 “…you have received the spirit of God’s adopted children by which we call out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
The next day, I asked Christie about Charlee’s response to the picture. She said, “Mom, we just tell her that it is Jesus…and that He loves her. She has been reaching, and pointing, and calling Him…Dada.” (The same thing she calls, Barry, her earthly father.) She also holds up her pointing finger as anyone sings, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…” and when she hears someone say Jesus! She has Heaven in her heart…
They had no idea when they lived their calling…and employed their inspiration…they could not know what God would do with their obedience to His call and how He would multiply it… Yes the lives of a young minister’s faithfulness to run after young people who desperately needed a Savior…and a gifted and inspired artist who sketched…had a dramatic impact on countless lives…but, I am one…and my daughter is one…and our grand-daughter is one…
As new parents, we were so clueless. We knew that we wanted to raise children who would honor God…but we were just starting on our journey as parents…and the picture in our son’s room and the one in our daughter’s room helped us all to keep our focus on Jesus Christ…The sketch is just a reminder of the gentleness and the love of God’s Son…and it is beautifully done…but it in no way can capture the extraordinary magnitude of His extravagance for us!
Our lives crossed the path of Young Life once again when our children were three and five. Our family attended Family Camp at Trail West in Buena Vista, Colorado, a camp owned by Young Life. We traveled there with Don Anderson, a vibrant Bible teacher and author who embraced the “camping” concept in his ministry. Our family spent a week together discovering the beauty of creation and experiencing the exhilaration of abiding in Christ, moment by moment. Our son has a wooden pencil holder that he made there in the children’s program…marked with the date, acknowledging that he invited Christ Yeshua into that hidden place in his little heart…Then, on our second camping trip the next year, I was submerged in water baptism, even though I had been sprinkled as an Episcopalian child…and once again, I came as a child, but this time with more understanding.
Today, it amazing to watch as our extended family and close friends invest their lives into the ministry of YL in the Waco and the Austin communities, knowing and believing that lives are changed through the ministry of running after kids…
And the journey continues…
I pray that each one will glimpse that face of divine love…that each one will know His extravagance…that each one will embrace the fact that we cannot know the impact that our lives have on others, as we answer the Father’s call…He multiplies exponentially to expand His Kingdom…to run after His kids…to love them…to meet them in their desperation…
I see Heaven in the hearts of our granddaughters as they dance…as they sing…as they reach and call Dada…Abba Father…
And I am thankful for those who have gone before us in obedience to the call on their lives…even though they did not know about a teenager in 1970, or children born in the ‘80’s, or grandchildren born in 2010,11,12,13…Only God knew. I am thankful for Young Life and the amazing difference the ministry makes in the lives of teens…I am thankful for the artist who gave us a glimpse into our Savior’s face…I am thankful for Paul’s letter to Ephesus. In fact, I look forward to our Bible study at Lake Hills as we begin our study of Ephesians this week…I am always amazed that God’s timing is perfect and orchestrated in the order of His appointed time, once again studying the first words that I read from the Bible…studying God’s infallible Word…Knowing that the Truth is life-changing, no matter how many times we read it! God gives new revelation and Truth eternally!
I pray that we live our lives aware that what we do, what we speak, and how we love will impact someone’s life…You are a blessing beyond measure. And I love being on the journey with you as we together, proclaim to this world the magnificent and extravagant Truth of our Yahweh…and Christ Yeshua…. And we are thankful…He put Heaven in our Hearts…
One glimpse and we are never the same.
“I will sing forever about the evidence of your mercy, O Yahweh. I will tell about your faithfulness to every generation.” Psalm 89:1
#truth #knowitsingitdanceitliveit
Abundant love and joy,
